Review: Listening to the Bible: The Art of Faithful Biblical Interpretation

I picked this book up at Half Price Books because it seemed like an interesting, and short, exploration of an important subject. I did enjoy Bryan’s approach: an acknowledgement of the contributions of historical criticism and a return to reading scripture in its context but with it an understanding that we read from a position and from within a community – the community of faith.

The author brings a strong literary perspective and even has an appendix focused on liturgical readings that truly bring out the literary or rhetorical element of scripture. There is a lot of academic “name dropping” and references, and the author is British, so if you are not familiar with the debates within the academy this might be distracting and confusing. I felt like I knew enough to get through it but probably would have gotten more out of it if I had a deeper knowledge.

I didn’t make the connection until writing this post, but I have Bryan’s Render Unto Caesar on my bookshelf and have been meaning to read it for some time. And his novel Siding Star has been on my Amazon wish list for a couple of years. Hmm, might need to dive a little deeper into Bryan’s work.

Any who, if you are interested in approaches to scripture and have some knowledge of the debate this is an interesting and readable volume.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Holtsberry

I work in communications and public affairs. I try to squeeze in as much reading as I can while still spending time with my wife and two kids (and cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Michigan Wolverines during football season - oh, and watching golf too).